Door for continuous-cleaning oven

ABSTRACT

An oven of the continuous-cleaning type in which the oven door therefor is provided with a muffle panel to which a continuouscleaning coating is applied while the portion of the door inner panel which borders the muffle panel has a smooth-surfaced porcelain enamel applied thereto.

United States Patent Q 1 3,702,112

Keppler 1 Nov. 7, 1972 s41 DOOR FOR CONTINUOUS-CLEANING [56] References Cited OVEN UNITED STATES PATENTS [72] 9" Mmfield Ohm 3,439,668 4/!969 Tilus ..l26/l90 [73] Assignee; Westinghouse Elgglric Corporation, 3,566,855 3/ 1971 Morgan 126/19 l 8 mg a Primary Examiner-Charles J. Myhre Flledi 5, 1971 1 Attorney-F. H. Henson and E. C. Arenz [21] Appl. No.: 104,084 [57] ABSTRACT 1 An oven of the continuous-cleaning type in which the [52] U.S. Cl. "126/19 R, 126/190 oven door therefor is Provided with a ffl panel to [51] Int. Cl. ..-..-.A2lb 1/00, F24c 15/02 hi h a ontinuous-cleaning coating is applied while [58] Field of Search "126/1 9, 190 the portion of the door inner panel which borders the muffle panel has a smooth-surfaced porcelain enamel applied thereto.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 1 a DOOR FOR CONTINUOUS-CLEANING OVEN CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS I Applicant is unaware of any'related patent applications. v

v BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention 'The'invention pertains to the art of oven constructions and pertains particularly to an oven door constructi'on for a continuous-cleaning oven. 2.DescriptionofthePriorArt f' I US. Pat. Nos. 3,266,477, and 3,465,023,-teach the application" of a coating composition to the parts of an oven cavity exposedto oven heat for thepurpose of facilitating oxidation of food soils on the surfaces at temperatures in the ordertof those encountered inordinary cooking operations in a cooking oven. The teachings of these patents calls for the incorporation of catalytic'agentsin the coating compositions to promote the oxidation of the food soils on the oven wall surfaces. Other coatingcompositions which presumably do not include catalytic agents are also available for coating oven cavity surfaces, an example of one such composition being that produced and: commercially available from the Glidden-Durkee Division of SCM Corporation. The compositions of materials which function to promote oxidation of food soils at the temperatures in the order of those normally encountered in ordinary cooking operations. in an oven arecharac- 'terized as continuous-cleaning compositions for the purpose of this application..

All of the coatings of the continuous-cleaning type of which I am aware provide a relatively dull or matte finish and are relatively abrasive (i.e., non-smooth) in nature. So far as I am aware also, the typical oven door for a continuous-cleaning oven includes the coating on both the muffle'pa nel and the part ofthe inner panel of the door which provides a border around the mufile panel. Since this border is not directly exposed to-the oven heat when the door is closed, the continuouscleaning composition thereon does not function adequately to yield the continuous-cleaning desired. I

' "SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION FIG. 2' is a partly-broken face view of the inner face of the door of FIG. 1 illustrating one form of door construction which may be used, this view including i stipling on a portion of the muffle panel] to denote a enamel;

continuous-cleaning coating and with a portion of the borderabout the muffle panel being providedwith a representation indicating the smooth-surface porcelain FIG. 3 is a sectional view, corresponding to one taken along the line III-III of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view corresponding to one taken along the line IVIV of FIG. 2 and showing one form ofmeans which may be used'for fastening the muffle result, the mufile panel tends to retain its heat which DRAWING DESCRIPTION H0. 1 is a perspective view of a cooking range having an oven and oven door according to the invention;

panel to the inner panel.

Referring to FIG. 1, the cooking range shown is of I the type which includes an oven of the continuouscleaning character. The oven cavity 10 is defined by opposite'side walls 12 and 14, top and bottom walls 16 and 18, and rear wall 20. The throat of the oven cavity is defined by the generally outwardly-directed flanges 22 of the oven liner, these flanges including portions projecting slightly. forwardly of the plane of the bordering front face 24 of the range body to form a rim. Conventional heating elements (not shown) are also provided in the oven. r

I The open front face of the oven cavity is adapted. to be substantially closed by the oven door generally designated 26 and which includes the following parts of particular interest in connection with the invention; the

inner panel 28, the muffle panel 3 0, and the thermal insulating and sealing gasket 32.

The general structural arrangement of the doorand the manner in which the various pieces are attached to each other is the same as that taught in Tilus, U.S.' Pat. No. 3,439,668 and is simply one example of away in which. the muffle panel may be attached to the remainder of the door and hold the thermal insulating sealing gasket 32 in place between the rim of the muffle panel and the opposing face of the inner panel. Accordingly, the structural arrangement will be only described in general terms, and reference should be hadto the noted patent for details of that particular structural arrangement.

As shown in FIGS. 2-4, the muffle panel 30 has the shape of a relatively shallow pan which is secured at its four corners through the means of brackets 34 welded to the hidden surface of the muffle panel, and bolt 36, to areas of the inner panel adjacent the cut-out portion 38 of the inner panel.

The gasket 32 may take various forms, but as illustrated in the drawing it is an open-ended, woven glass or asbestos fiber sleeve which is generally circular in an unstressed form, but as supported and held in the illustrated construction, takes a flattened form. The gasket is held in a shape to fit and be clamped between the muffle panel rim and the exposed face of the inner panel by a wire frame 40 inside the gasket. The illustrated gasket extends without interruption along three sides of the cutout 32 area of the inner panel, and along the fourth side adjacent the hinged edge of the door the gasket terminates near the corners of the muffle panels to provide an air inlet slot between the door and the front face of the range body when the door is closed.

When the door 26 is closed, the muffle panel projects slightly intothe interior of the oven at the oven throat. The gasket 32 abuts the oven liner flanges 22 to provide a seal between the door and the front face of the range except in the interrupted area of the gasket. The areas of the inner panel, 28 which border the muffle panel andgasket are not directly exposed to the oven heat, but to the contrary are in facing relation with the 5 border area 24 at the front face of the range.

At least some of the walls 12-20 of the oven cavity have a continuous-cleaning coating applied thereto to facilitate the oxidation of the food soils at those temperatures in'the order of the temperatures encountered in'ordinary cooking operations in an oven. The continuous-clean coatings are denoted in the drawing by stipple areas 42 shown on portions only of the walls. It will be understood that to the extent the'coating is applied to a given wall, it will typically be applied over the 15 entire surface of the wall facing the oven interior.

In accordance with the preferred construction of the invention, the muffle panel 30 of the door comprises a part separate from the remainder of the door. The surface of the muffle panel facing the oven interior is also coated with the continuous-cleaning composition, also indicated by the stipple representation 42 shown on only a portion of the muffle panel. Such a coating in its present state of development tends to have a matte surface (i.e., dull and non-smooth) which is somewhat rough or abrasive to the touch. In contrast to this coating, the face of the inner panel border surrounding the muffle panel is provided with a conventional smoothsurface porcelain enamel indicated by the glassy representation 44 shown in the drawing as being on only a part of the border, it being understood that it is applied to the entire border surface exposed to view.

With this arrangement of the difference in coatings of the parts, coupled with the substantial thermal insulation between the muffle panel and the inner panel, an improved arrangement is provided. Since the muffle panel is directly exposed to the oven heat, but is thermally insulated from the inner panel so that conduction of heat from the muffle panel is minimized, the functioning of the continuous-cleaning coating is promoted. However, since the border area of the inner panel is not exposed to the oven heat and accordingly has a relatively lower temperature at which the continuouscleaning coating would be ineffective for practical purposes, the continuous-cleaning coating is omitted from the border area and the inner panel is simply provided with a smooth-surface porcelain enamel from which food soils deposited thereon can be removed more easily by wiping than from a continuous-cleaning coating.

What is claimed is: 1. A cooking oven including: an oven cavity formed of opposite sides, top, bottom and rear walls, and having a throat at its front face; a continuous-cleaning coating on the inner face of at least some of said walls for promoting the elimination of cooking residues deposited on said walls during cooking by having said continuous-cleaning coating subjected to oven-heat; a door for the front face of said oven, said door including;

a muffle panel having a cross-sectional area generally coextensive with, but slightly smaller than, said throat so as to be received therein,

an inner panel having said muffle panel fixed thereto, said inner panel including a border portion outwardly of said muffle panel, a continuous-cleaning coating on t e oven facing surface of said muffle panel, and a relatively smooth-surface porcelain enamel on said inner panel border portion.

2. A cooking oven according to claim 1 including:

thermal insulating means interposed between said inner panel and said muffle panel to provide heat break means therebetween.

3. In a cooking oven door construction of the type having a muffle panel, and inner panel bordering the muffle panel and dimensioned so that said border is not exposed to the interior of said oven when said door is in a closed position:

a continuous-cleaning coating on the oven facing surface of said muffle panel;

a relatively smooth surfaced porcelain enamel coating on said inner panel border portion; and

thermal insulating means interposed between said inner panel and said muffle panel to provide a heat break therebetween. 

1. A cooking oven including: an oven cavity formed of opposite sides, top, bottom and rear walls, and having a throat at its front face; a continuous-cleaning coating on the inner face of at least some of said walls for promoting the elimination of cooking residues deposited on said walls during cooking by having said continuous-cleaning coating subjected to oven heat; a door for the front face of said oven, said door including; a muffle panel having a cross-sectional area generally coextensive with, but slightly smaller than, said throat so as to be received therein, an inner panel having said muffle panel fixed thereto, said inner panel including a border portion outwardly of said muffle panel, a continuous-cleaning coating on the oven facing surface of said muffle panel, and a relatively smooth-surface porcelain enamel on said inner panel border portion.
 2. A cooking oven according to claim 1 including: thermal insulating means interposed between said inner panel and said muffle panel to provide heat break means therebetween.
 3. In a cooking oven door construction of the type having a muffle panel, and inner panel bordering the muffle panel and dimensioned so that said border is not exposed to the interior of said oven when said door is in a closed position: a continuous-cleaning coating on the oven facing surface of said muffle panel; a relatively smooth surfaced porcelain enamel coating on said inner panel border portion; and thermal insulating means interposed between said inner panel and said muffle panel to provide a heat break therebetween. 